We’ve blogged before about the consequences social media can have on an individual’s job search, but what about the damage it can do to a consumer brand?
In recent weeks, the news has been filled with stories of well known organisations handling their customers badly on social media sites. Qantas was heavily criticised for its failure to communicate with passengers – some left stranded – when its planes were grounded due to industrial action. Blackberry – known for its business use – failed to communicate with customers at all during its recent service outage, and only last week Easyjet ran into problems. Easyjet was bombarded with hostile Tweets following its decision to remove a blind lady from a flight because she didn’t have the correct paperwork allowing her guide dog to travel as well. Whilst the issue was resolved, the concerns the lady in question and angry social media users voiced, was the lack of response from the company on its social media channels to the situation.
There’s no doubt that the likes of Twitter and Facebook have allowed brands to reach and engage instantly with a wider audience than previously possible. And whilst engaging with fans or followers when there is something positive to say is great, issues arise when the brand in question simply ignores the problem. As the examples above show, choosing this route can have a damaging and long term effect on a business.